Hunter region heart attack awareness improving

The Heart Foundation says the Hunter community is more confident about what to do in the event of a heart attack following a recent campaign.

In October last year the foundation launched a TV and radio campaign after a survey of Hunter residents found almost 70 per cent of unaware of heart attack symptoms.

A new survey has found 88 per cent of people are more likely to call 000 if they thought they were having a heart attack compared 79 per cent previously.

Heart Foundation CEO Tony Thirlwell says the results are promising.

"In the Hunter region more than 20 per cent more people are more confident of knowing what to do," he said.

"66 per cent now know what to do, when we started the campaign it was less than half.

"And 10 per cent are more likely to call 000 if they thought they were having a heart attack, which is our message of course, if you think you're having a heart attack you should ring 000 urgently."

"If you leave it too late you may die, if you don't die, the heart muscle is irreparably damaged and you'll never be able to do the things like going for walks or going for swims like you might have wanted to do before.